


Bruised Batkids

by CloakedSparrow



Series: Collected Bat-Family Stories [16]
Category: Bat Family (DCU), Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Adopted Children, Bat Family, Double Life, Gen, Minor Injuries, No Romance, No Sex, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-06 01:59:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11026224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloakedSparrow/pseuds/CloakedSparrow
Summary: When Bruce first took in Dick and allowed him to be Robin, hiding and sometimes explaining injuries was a big concern. Eventually, a natural excuse presented itself. The same stood true for each of Bruce's other children.





	Bruised Batkids

Bruce’s children were all very skilled detectives and crime fighters. Even still, they received more than their fair share of bruises, scrapes and minor injuries. They were good at hiding their injuries from prying eyes, but sometimes they slipped up (like the time Dick didn’t realize his shirt raised enough to see his bruised ribs when he did a series of flips while visiting the children’s hospital the Wayne Foundation had just donated a generous sum to) or simply _couldn’t_ cover an injury (like the time Tim ended up with a spiral fracture after a run in with Killer Croc and needed to keep his arm in a cast for six weeks). 

At first, Bruce worried about that quite a lot. He was constantly trying to come up with explanations for Dick’s injuries when they first began working together. He didn’t want anyone to become suspicious of their nightly activities or worse, mistakenly believe that Bruce was harming Dick.

Soon Bruce realized that he didn’t have to worry about it as much as he’d assumed. Most people went to the first logical explanation if they saw that Dick had been hurt.

“I guess you can take the boy from the circus, huh?” This type of comment occurred often and was usually followed by a laugh or sympathetic look. Everyone just assumed that the acrobatic, rambunctious boy had hurt himself.

Bruce ran with it. He sometimes offered details -usually based off something Dick had actually done, such as hanging out in a chandelier, that hadn’t caused the injury but worked to help people fill in the blanks themselves. This way, he could never be called out if someone realized Dick hadn’t been hurt the way they’d believed. Bruce never _told_ them what had happened, they’d just _assumed_.

Jason was a little more difficult. Having come from the streets of Gotham and being known not to take any crap from anyone, adult or fellow teenager alike, meant that most assumed he’d been fighting. Bruce got even more sympathetic looks and even some reassurance that it wasn’t his fault.

“Bad breeding always shows through.”

Bruce wanted to punch a few people himself during this time, but he couldn’t deny it gave them a solid explanation any time someone noticed a bruise or scrape on the boy. Instead Bruce mainly stayed quiet, allowing people to assume what they would unless they suggested taking an action Bruce disagreed with, such as sending the boy to boarding school.

In such cases, Bruce would point out that Jason had been defending himself (not necessarily a lie) and that he would never fault the boy for that. He spoke of how Jason would never learn to belong if he never had a chance of acceptance. That usually shut people up.

Cassandra was another difficult one. Bruce couldn’t tell the real story of how she’d come into his care. He only let people know that Cassandra had a rough childhood, and claimed she’d been the daughter of a friend who could no longer care for her. 

That, along with her stilted speech and tendency to just _watch_ her surroundings without talking or reacting to anyone, led many to a very specific conclusion. One that was good for explaining bruises and ensuring no one suspected the girl of being a vigilante, but also came with its fair share of baggage.

“This one’s… _special_ , isn’t she?”

Bruce never commented one way or another. He only made it clear that he expected his daughter’s privacy and personal space to be respected at all times. He and her brothers made sure she was never alone at any events she was required to attend. Although she got away with skipping more than the boys did.

Tim was better at hiding in plain sight than the others and at first, he wasn’t technically Bruce’s child so the difficult part came in keeping quiet when others talked or gossiped. In staying away when he could see the boy was in pain or uncertain of how to react to the whispers he heard as he passed.

A concussion no one knew he had once resulted in Tim collapsing at a charity event. No one saw the actual fall, so Tim claimed he’d tripped on the door frame. Another time, Tim was hiding a sprained knee when someone bumped him on some stairs, causing him to lose his balance and take a pretty good fall. Events like these and his tendency to sport scrapes and bruises led to another, safer assumption.

“You’ll have to watch this one around the fragile artifacts in Wayne Manor, I hear he’s quite clumsy.”

Unfortunately, Bruce had to go along with the belief that his youngest child was practically incapable of walking through a room without bumping into or tripping over something. It didn’t do much for Tim's social life or self esteem, but it prevented anyone from asking any dangerous questions.

Tim understood that. He played the part well, explaining that he’d walked into a wardrobe when he was asked about a bruised elbow he’d gotten from fighting Two-Face or claiming he’d tripped on the stairs again when he had cracked some ribs after being thrown down a flight of stairs by Red Hood.

Damian fell into a similar camp as Jason had, with his fowl attitude and short temper leading people to believe he’d gotten into a fight. Instead of speaking of bad breeding however, people generally assured Bruce that his breeding would come through. That the boy was clearly having a hard time adjusting and would come around.

“Besides, you’re fighting puberty. Give him another decade and I’m sure he’ll be lovely.”

The hard part with Damian was making sure the boy himself didn’t give anything away when he became angered by the suggestion that he would be beaten by another thirteen year old. Like with Cassandra, the other Waynes made sure not to leave him alone at any events. Usually, he just didn’t attend and Bruce would make a comment about teenagers.

Bruce supposed it wasn’t any different than playing the part of billionaire playboy. If playing the part of happy ex-circus performer, angry ex-street rat, special needs savant, clumsy walking disaster, or spoiled angry rich kid kept anyone from looking too deeply, then Bruce would encourage it. Anything to keep his children safe.


End file.
